Category Archives: Italy 2015

The Diary of a Slow Traveler – Amateur Traveler and other blogs

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As we start to plan our next trip I found myself immersed in travel books and searching the web for inspiration.

I love travel books, travel programs and just surfing the web about travel. I am watching Michael Portello’s train journeys at the moment. Even Escape to The Country and Escape to the Continent have provided useful travel trips. Travel books are fun, but more recently I have found that they are more useful to people planning their trips than to us!

So I thought I’d mention how we have used blogs and forums and some of the sources we have relied upon for inspiration and valuable information in our travel.

I found out about rail travel from the man in seat 61. Relying on Mark Smith’s advice I have graduated from having the travel agent book my train travel to being completely comfortable travelling through Europe, reading timetables and making my own bookings. Sure I have missed trains and misread timetables but that has led to some pretty amazing experiences like an unforgettable Bastille weekend in Paris when we should have been on the train to the Amalfi Coast!

As we plan our trips I type a country or place into the search engine and see what I can find.  Continue reading →

Pompeii, Heracleum or Ostia – They were all buried

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Chatting away with friends who’d just returned from a trip to Italy started me off comparing Pompeii, Heracleum and Ostia.  Pompeii and Heracleum were all buried by ash and Ostia silt.

Pompeii with Vesuvius in the background

Pompeii is, of course, the most famous. Heracleum is its poor cousin.  Ostia often doesn’t rate a mention but is perhaps the most impressive.

Source: www.visitingeu.com

My favourite person and I think that one of the best things about going to Pompeii and Heracleum is that its best reached by the Circumvesuviana, the local railway that runs between Naples – Sorrento.  Catching the train at the Naples railway station is something to behold. It’s the local’s railway.  Each of the carriages is completely covered with graffiti.

The train is a chance to see how the locals live. In the afternoons it’s full of teenagers catching the train home from school. It’s boisterous and not understanding the language a little confronting. On the weekends’ its still chaotic but the trains are full of kids and families. Then there are the buskers – I use the term loosely. In our experience, the train buskers have been pretty ordinary but I am sure we have been unlucky.

Making sure your on the right train is the next step. Not just that you are on the right line but that it goes all the way. One day when we were travelling through to Sorrento, the train just stopped and then everyone except us got off. For a short while, we wondered what to do until a local realised we had no idea and told us that we needed to get off and catch the next train.

Pompeii has a dedicated station and for Heracleum, the train stops at the town and then there is a walk to the archeological site. Continue reading →

“Tickle me Elmo” – taking the funicular to Vomerio, Naples

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View from Castel Sant'Elmo

View from Castel Sant’Elmo to Castel Nuovo

I recently posted  about three cities that you must visit. One of  those was Naples, and as I was searching for links to my posts on these three wonderful but under-rated cities, I realised that I hadn’t completed this post.  So, I dusted the cobwebs off and moved this post from my Drafts to Posted.

As we extended and then extended again our stay in Naples we were able to move from a concerted attack on the highlights of Naples,

National Archeological Museum, Naples

the Duomo, Gran Caffe Gambrinus, the Archeological Museum with its amazing  Pompeii exhibition that includes a very naughty  exhibit of ancient pornography (yes we did take a Peak!) and start to  look further afield.

Sitting on our hotel balcony in Piazza Bellini, making some calls to home, we could see a castle and wondered what it was called. Perhaps we should pay a visit? Once we found that it’s name was Castel Sant’Elmo we decided we had to visit. How could you not visit a place called Elmo?

Coffee – Gran Caffe Gambrinus

Continue reading →

Diary of a Slow Traveller – Catania, Palermo, Naples – three cities that you must visit

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Palermo Cathederal entrance

Palermo Cathedral entrance

 

It would be fair to say that when you think of three cities that you must visit, it’s doubtful that Catania, Palermo and Naples immediately come to mind? However they are each cities with enormous character and personality. Each enjoys a reputation of being dark, dirty, unruly and not safe.

The words of warning are appropriate but so are the reasons to visit!

We took the opportunity to visit all three on our last trip to Italy.

While we had visited Palermo twice before, we had steered clear of Catania and Naples previously, due to the general commentary around safety. So  as I said, on our last visit to Italy we decided to visit both Catania and Naples as well as revisiting Palermo. Infact, we enjoyed each of them so much that we made a return trip to Catania while we were in Sicily and extended our stay in Naples. We also wished we’d allowed a little more time for Palermo.

Each of these cities have their own personalities. Continue reading →

Two Years of “What’s Next”

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It is now two years since I commenced “What’s Next”. I am no longer the man in the suit peering over the fence to see what’s there. I am living, and dare I say loving “What’s Next”!!!

Source: http://innovationpov.com/evolution-of-concept-stimuli/

I am well into my PhD, with my Supervisors telling me I am on track. There is still an enormous amount to do, however it does seem to be coming together. I have completed my Major Review, a year one milestone. I have written more than 20,000 words, some of which might even make it into my thesis!

We have enjoyed a significant stay in Italy, a cornerstone of my planning for “What’s Next”. We have also had a short trip to the USA, courtesy of a paper built on my Honours research and are now planning another trip.

My bike riding has been consistent, but I am not riding as often as I’d like. I read Jim’s Fit Recovery Blog  and realise how much more I could be doing, buy hey, I am out on the bike!!!

I have continued with my blog. Continue reading →